New Years

Hello. Here are a few pictures that were on the computer from the past week. First we have a picture of a dinner that our nanny (called an Ayi, which means aunt) made for us. After Jane and I returned from work, Jane gave her 20 yuan, which equals 3 dollars. She left, bought all of the ingredients, and then came back and cooked with Jane. As you can see, there are many vegetables, which is common in all of our dishes. We eat considerably less meat than we did in the U.S. It seems that we now get our protein from peanuts and eggs in the same amount as other meat. On the plate, from top left clockwise, are a sausage stuffed boudza (which are a favorite of Dan, Etain and Jane), a zucchini/cucumber type vegetable with ham (the ham here is not very good, it is a lot more like Spam), cucumbers with chicken, sprouts, and brown rice with broccoli. I wanted to remind myself to take a picture of the rice bin at the store. My experience in the U.S. is that there is brown, mixed grain and white rice. Here, there are numerous types of white rice. At the stores, white rice sits in huge bins and you fill your own bag with it. There are always at least 4 different types of white rice, which all look the same to me. Every time you go, there will be people pondering for several minutes which rice to get, running their fingers through the rice and doing a very thorough inspection. Jane finally found a store that sold brown rice, which we like more since it is healthier for us. When Jiu Jie saw our brown rice, she told us that we should just throw it away. Here, brown rice is looked at as cheap and dirty; she thought we were crazy for wanting to eat it. Just one of the several differences that we have noticed.

Here is a picture of Evelyn being thoroughly entertained by 'Home Alone', one of the many Christmas movies that we purchased.

This past weekend Jane and the kids and I ran downtown to do some shopping. When we got off the bus, I ran to the bank to withdraw money, and Jane and the kids headed towards the store. Apparently they were met along the way by a large rodent of some sort, which was picture worthy. Evelyn is wearing her new coat that she got from Santa. Even though it was not too terribly cold of a day, everyone was pretty well bundled up, as it was windy. It was about 9 degrees Celsius. [The conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit is Fahrenheit= Celsius x 9 / 5 + 32. Using this, 9 Celsius equals 48 Fahrenheit].

Here are Dan and Jiu Jie, who watched the kids as Jane and I went out for New Years Eve. I did a poor job of adding pictures, so I will talk about New Years Eve further down.

Here are three pictures of the kids eating breakfast one morning. I was already at work this day, but Jane wanted me to put all of these on here as she thought they highlighted each child's personality quite well...

First is Etain, wearing her princess tiara, which she wears consistently. It also suits her well, as she is seen as the queen of the family. Just before writing this I had to fill out visa information for the kids, signing each of their names to forms. After I signed Dan and Evelyn, the Chinese girl who was helping handed me Etain's form, saying, "and now for the cutest..." Etain seems to know it as well, as she expects to be spoiled, often getting what she wants.

Here is Evelyn, wearing a onesie and her boots. She must have been feeling formal this morning because normally she would wear only the boots. This is suiting for her because she is the crazy one, quickly establishing herself as the clown of the family. She is also very independent. Our tile floors get extremely cold. As a result, we always try to keep the kids well bundled. Evelyn hates it when we get her dressed up, and minutes later her clothes are off. She does whatever she wants, and that is that.

Here is Dan, the sweet and serious one. He wanted to wear a tie to school this day, which is not uncommon. He has really taken on the role as a good big brother (and son). He constantly helps and tries to teach his sisters. He is also constantly interested in what is going on. The kid also talks constantly. Jane wants to write a journal of his one-liners, which come daily.

OK, here are Jane and I before going out for New Years Eve. We ended up going out to a bar/club that I had not been to yet (Jane went previously with our friend Jenny). We started out the night by meeting up with Jenny at her place. When we got there, she was not in her apartment, but she was rather in a neighboring apartment where a Filipino teacher lived. When we walked in, there was a large assortment of foods, and the Filipinos (there are 4 Filipino teachers) were all sitting around singing karaoke. They are always doing this, as they love their music. The karaoke choice of the night was Abba, which, even though I liked, I did not sing. After karaoke we headed to the bar. I was hesitant to go because Jane told me that it was a very packed club with extremely loud music. When she went previously, she said that the dance floor lighted up and moved (I think you just stood still, and the dance floor shook back and forth to the beat of the music). I was interested in seeing what it was like, but I was not looking too forward to being shaken all night. When we got there, though, instead of going to that part of the club we went to a different part on the 4th floor (the shaking dance floor was on the 1st floor). This place was much better, as it had tons of space with tables and a large bar (It was actually like a bar that you would see in a Chili's or Applebees, only much much larger, with a DJ stand and little platforms for dancing. There ended up being about 20 or so foreigners that made it out, mostly being teachers from our school and from another school here in town (everyone pretty much knows each other). We got a small table right in one of the aisles, and pretty much hung out there throughout the night, spilling out into other parts of the bar from time to time. I drank beers, which most people do not have (To get a beer, you go to the bar, order it, your order is then given to a runner, who goes to the kitchen area and fetches the beer, bringing it back to you. They do not keep beers directly at the bar, I guess because they are rarely ordered). Most people drink mixed drinks. Commonly, a table will get a large bottle of alcohol and several mixers, and people pour their own drinks out of large carafes at the table. A lot of people at the clubs are interested in hanging out and getting to know foreigners. As such, you get offered drinks and cigarettes (all Chinese men smoke) from other people. One guy, just to meet all of us, bought an entire bottle of Jack Daniels for the table. There was a countdown at midnight, with a small amount of celebrating the new year (mostly from the foreigners), but otherwise the holiday was not seen as different from any other night (at least this is the impression that I got). It was a fun night, and we were out until about 2:30 a.m. Anyway, as stated long ago, here is the picture.

Finally, here are a few pictures of the pig-tailed girls, hamming it up for the camera.

Today, Monday, is the first of two days of teaching for us, and then we have 3 days of end of semester exams. Next week we have a day of closing ceremonies, and then we are off for break. We are still trying to decide what we are going to do for break (every travel option that we look into is extremely expensive).

Now that we have a new faster computer, and maybe some extra time with the holidays being over, I will try to get another post in here relatively soon. Saichen until then.